Windows XP Installation Guide

Remove the FDISK boot floppy and insert your Windows CD. Reboot.
If you cannot get the Windows CD to boot, use the boot
floppies. If you have the opportunity (and space) to copy the
entire Windows CD to your hard drive.

I recommend doing so, because Windows
will install faster, and you won't have to dig up the CD when you
need to install new system components.

Windows will remember where
the original source files are stored/located.

You would simply create (for example) a folder named "WXP"
on a partition/drive that is designated for file storage, and copy
the entire contents of your CD to that directory. Then remove the
CD and execute the file Setup.exe from there.

This is the normal method if you already have an operating system
installed and are planning to dual-
or multi-boot.

If
you are hell-bent on "upgrading" a previous install, at
least create a Ghost image
first, so you can go back if you have problems.

The first screen you see says Welcome to Windows Setup.
In the window beside the words Installation Type, you will
see the words Upgrade (Recommended) if you have an operating
system already installed.

Contrary to Microsoft's advice, I do not
(ever) recommend upgrading Windows. No one does.
Clean installs (also called "New Installs") are always better, because upgrades can leave old files on your system that can cause problems later on.
For this reason, I suggest you click the little drop-down arrow and
select: New Installation (Advanced). Hit the Next
button.

Side note: If you currently have an operating system installed, such
as Windows 2000
or Windows Me, and
you want to KEEP that O/S installed, I suggest you dual-
or multi-boot instead
of upgrading it. Dual-booting is simple. Windows does all the work
for you, configuring the dual-boot automatically. Just make sure you
select a different partition than the one that currently
contains an operating system.

Accept the License agreement and enter your product key. If you
make one little mistake, it won't work. So enter carefully and double-check.

At the top of the next screen, click on the button labeled Advanced
Options. At the bottom of the next screen put a check-mark
in the box labeled I want to choose the installation drive letter
and partition during Setup. Your system will reboot.

If you are using a RAID, SCSI
or SATA controller that is NOT natively supported by Windows, have
your floppy ready that contains the appropriate drivers and press
F6 when prompted to load the appropriate drivers.
The manufacturer of your particular controller will know if your controller
has native WinXP support.

If you don't load the appropriate drivers, you won't be able to see/use/access
drives connected to those controllers. Pop in the floppy that contains
the appropriate drivers. You only have a few seconds, so pay attention
with your finger hovering over the F6 key.

Highlight and select the partition where you want to install Windows.
Format this partition if not already formatted. I recommend the NTFS
file system for Windows XP. As mentioned earlier, do *not* use QUICK
FORMAT. Only format the partition where you want to install Windows.
We will format the other partitions once Windows is installed.

Note: For security
reasons, I recommend *against* installing Windows to the C
partition, which (by default)
will be the first partition on your primary-master
hard drive. The C drive is the default installation
location. Hackers
know this and target the C drive.

This is a minor point, and certainly won't preclude you from ever
getting hacked. But it is simply one more strategy to thwart an attack
(.. along with a firewall, anti-viral
software & a trojan
scanner). Windows XP will work fine from *any* drive letter.

Windows will start to install. This will take a while. You should
see no errors. Some average install times (compliments of Joshua)
with IDE hard drives:

[These are times from my lab and not official. All
installs were done directly from CD using a 32X CD-ROM.]
When it's done, and after rebooting a few times, you'll arrive at
a beautiful, clean desktop.

Here Windows will walk you through its initial configuration, including
your geographic region & language, your name & organization,
naming your computer (e.g. Radz-Beast) & selecting an administrator
password, date, time & time zone, and network settings. You might
also be prompted here to enter your 25-character
product key, if you didn't enter it earlier.

Your computer name is easy for other computers (and
people) to see. So I recommend *against* using anything that is telling,
such as your name. For your name, I recommend using a pet name (such
as Rad, Spanky or Doc).

Most important here is selecting a good administrator password/phrase.
Much has been written on the subject. Diceware
offers what I consider the best method. Their FAQ is posted
here. The casual user may find the info tedious, but it's worth
skimming.

In short, they recommend against single-word passwords (such as: password_#01),
but rather 4-word pass-phrases,
such as Radz 911 goez fa$t!. Windows XP supports
passwords/phrases up to 127-characters. Words not
found in the dictionary are better. Use at least one capital letter,
and at least one number. Always use at least one special character:
[~`!@#$%^&*()_-+={}[]|\:;"'<> ,.?/ etc.]

This is because programs such as LC4,
by L0pht Crack, are able to 'crack' most passwords in a matter of
minutes. I downloaded
the demo, thinking I had created a good password. LC4
cracked it in under 5 minutes (using brute
force method, similar to RC5).
It was not able to crack my new diceware pass-phrase.

The XP
Survival Guide: Surviving the First Day (1.2-MB
PDF, 13 pages, worth reading, published by the Internet
Storm Center, link compliments of Jeff Wilson), instructs you
to enter the Custom Network Settings at this point
and unselect:

If needed, you can re-select these items later, after you have downloaded
and installed all Windows
Updates. I also unselect QoS Packet Scheduler
here.

If you are the only person using your computer, and your PC is located
in an area you consider secure (your home), you can later (after you're
done with this guide) configure Windows to enter your pass-phrase
for you automatically when it boots, by using Tweak
UI (< for Professional edition, see here
for Home edition).

Simply open Tweak UI and select Logon > Autologon. Click the Set
Password button and enter your password. Then put a check in
the box labeled Log on automatically at system start up.

Personally, I hate the new XP interface. It's too candy-cane for
me. So the first thing I do is to select the "Windows
Classic style" from the Appearance tab under
Display Properties (right-click on the desktop). But this
is admittedly personal preference. Many folks like the new interface.

Windows default folder views are annoying. Open the Control Panel,
go to Folder Options, click on the "VIEW"
tab and do the following:

Go into your Device Manager and and select IDE ATA/ATAPI
controllers. Verify that they say DMA if Available for
both primary & secondary controllers. They should be already.

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools
> Computer Management > Disk Management. Right click on any
unformatted drive and format it. I recommend NTFS. Do the same thing
to all unformatted drives.

Give them distinctive names, such as E_drive, etc.
Some people like to name the partitions according to what they will
be used for, such as MP3s and
Back-up. Do not change any
drive letters, especially not the one where Windows is installed.

Load the CD we made at the very beginning and copy its contents
to a partition or directory you have designated for file storage.
I named this folder install_cd. [I prefer to use
underscores instead of blank spaces to name file and directories.]